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Weekend Box Office: Deathly Hallows Casts A Box Office Spell

By InCinemas / 18 Jul 2011 (Monday)

Thanks to the addition of 3D showings and a horde of rabid fans ravenous to gobble up the last cinematic bits of their wizarding hero, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 shattered major records this weekend sending the Hogwarts crew out as box office legends. The eighth and final entry to the Potter franchise enjoyed an easy number one opening, breaking the records for biggest opening weekend ever ($168 million), biggest single day take ever ($92 million), and biggest midnight screening cash haul ever ($43 million). Thanks to bloated 3D ticket prices Deathly Hallows Part 2 might have been a record breaking cash earner, but that doesn't mean it had the largest audiences ever. For more on that, check out our break down of the movie's record breaking weekend.

Heavily overshadowed by Potter's finale was another children's storybook legend. Winnie the Pooh oh-bothered his way back to the big screen in what will likely be called the summer's best movie you didn't see. Earning an impressive 91% at Rotten Tomatoes and tying Harry Potter for four stars out of five here on Cinema Blend, Winnie the Pooh didn't get matching attention at the box office. With only $8 million over the entire weekend the movie debuted at a dismal sixth place.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon settled for a very distant second place but made a few sparks of its own. Now with $302 million in domestic sales it became the first movie of 2011 to break the $300 million mark. The question now is whether or not Harry Potter will be able to catch up. $300 million in domestic sales seems to be an elusive number for the Potter franchise. Each movie in the series since the fourth film Goblet of Fire has danced around the number but only Half-Blood Prince, sixth of the franchices, topped it narrowly with $301 million.

The question is, can Harry conjur enough cash to become the highest grossing movie of 2011?

For the full weekend top ten, check out the chart below:

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Weekend Box Office: Deathly Hallows Casts A Box Office Spell